Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Cryptonomicon
Book Review: 900 pg book filled with very interesting side notes
Summary: 2 Stars
I did not like the style of this book. Each chapter did leave me feeling tantalized and somewhat experienced.
I thought I was ejnoying myself, as it turns out - I really wasn't. After about 50 pages, I found myself cringing with doubt every other chapter. Is it just a dream sequence - or is it a time jump?
Getting to the heart of the story is allot like deciphering a code that you did not agree to look at.
If you enjoy that sort of thing, and want to read a 900 pg book filled with very interesting side notes, and the author holds the plot over your head like a bully's game of keep away, then dive in!
Book Review: A Fastinating Story
Summary: 5 Stars
When I picked up this book, which at 900+ pages is no small feat, I was afraid it would be dull and wordy. Four days later I finished it, having stayed up all night to do so. Stephenson's style is humorous and not too difficult to read. He does spend an exceeding amount of time talking about math and cryptography, which may deter some people. I find that they add color to the novel and help flesh out the characters. The tale itself is wonderfully woven together between the two time periods. Some other reviews attacked the novel for its size or technical subject matter. You'll notice that all these reviewers managed to finish the book. If you have the patience to spend a long time with a novel, or if you have a week with nothing to do, let me recomend Cryptonomicon.Book Review: A Great Read -- Flaws and all . . .
Summary: 4 Stars
Neal Stephenson is an amazing writer. His ability to keep this complex narrative going while jumping across five decades and generations of technology is truly breathtaking. Despite stilted dialog (including his penchant for having characters engage in conversations solely for the purpose of educating readers about things he thinks they probably don't know), we really care about the characters and their predicaments. Stephenson's command of language and his descriptive passages are a joy to experience. Even though there are a few issues like inaccurate references to The Lord of the Rings and mangled scientific facts (the speed of sound in air is not one kilometer per second), Stephenson reveals himself to be a polymath with impressive knowledge of history, literature, and technology. The only really weak part of the book is the ending, but readers who have thoroughly enjoyed the preceeding 1100 pages will probably not be overly disappointed.Book Review: A Gripping Thriller with excellent Mental Stimulation.
Summary: 5 Stars
The book's heavy - so right away you know its going to be either really good or really bad right?
Well, this one's a real keeper. A story, told from several vantage points across two generations of several families related by blood and circumstance. There's all the action of a WWII thriller - with fighting in trenches and jungles and taking out pill boxes on remote Pacific islands. But, for me the most interesting part was the Information Science and the journey into cryptography that Neal Stephenson leads you on as you progress through the book - easy to understand, but quite stimulating to ponder for those neophytes not acquainted with the fields of encryption or cryptography. There's love stories, crazy geeks with amazing toys and luxury tech equipment and more exciting twists than you'll believe. There's Gold, Silver, espionage, fighting, and more than I expected when I picked up the book - it kept me gripped from the first to the last page and the story rounded out to the perfect resolution.
It was a long read, but Neal Stephenson needed every page to get the story down that he did - and it was worth the investment of time to enjoy the story he crafted for us. Thanks Neal!
Highly recommended!
Dominic Ebacher
ebacherdom.blogspot.com
060907.0158
Book Review: A Long Book Worth Every Page
Summary: 5 Stars
Stephenson is a well read genius who educates and entertains hugely. You will be pulled in, will marvel, will resent any interruption, and, when finished, will wonder if you could ever find another experience like it.